Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics: Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific Perspectives

826 Pages·2001·2.51 MB·English

by  Robert T. Pennock

Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics
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Intelligent Design Creationism and Its Critics
Philosophical, Theological, and Scientific
Perspectives
Robert T. Pennock
A Bradford Book
The MIT Press
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London,England
(2001MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformbyany
electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or informa-
tionstorageandretrieval)withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
This book was set in Sabon in 3B2 by Asco Typesetters, Hong Kong and was
printedandboundintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Pennock,RobertT.
Intelligentdesigncreationismanditscritics:philosophical,theological,and
scientificperspectives/RobertT.Pennock.
p. cm.
‘‘ABradfordbook.’’
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-262-16204-0(alk.paper) — ISBN0-262-66124-1(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Creationism. 2.Evolution(Biology) 3.Evolution(Biology)—Religious
aspects—Christianity. 4.Religionandscience. 5.Science—Philosophy.
I.Title.
BS652.P442001
231.70652—dc21 2001031276
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xv
Contributors xvii
I IntelligentDesign Creationism’s ‘‘Wedge Strategy’’ 1
1 The Wedge at Work: How Intelligent Design Creationism
IsWedging Its Way into the Cultural and Academic
Mainstream 5
Barbara Forrest
II Johnson’s Critique of Evolutionary Naturalism 55
2 Evolution asDogma: The Establishment ofNaturalism 59
Phillip E.Johnson
3 Naturalism, Evidence,and Creationism: The Case of Phillip
Johnson 77
Robert T. Pennock
4 Responseto Pennock 99
Phillip E.Johnson
5 Reply: Johnson’s Reason in the Balance 103
Robert T. Pennock
III ATheological Conflict?Evolution vs. the Bible 109
6 When Faith and Reason Clash:Evolutionand the Bible 113
Alvin Plantinga
7 When Faith and Reason Cooperate 147
Howard J.Van Till
vi Contents
8 Plantinga’s Defense ofSpecial Creation 165
ErnanMcMullin
9 Evolution, Neutrality, and AntecedentProbability: A Reply to
McMullin and VanTill 197
Alvin Plantinga
IV Intelligent Design’s ScientificClaims 237
10 Molecular Machines:Experimental Supportfor the Design
Inference 241
Michael J.Behe
11 Born-Again Creationism 257
PhilipKitcher
12 Biology Remystified: The Scientific Claimsof the New
Creationists 289
Matthew J.Brauer and DanielR. Brumbaugh
V Plantinga’s Critique of Naturalism and Evolution 335
13 Methodological Naturalism? 339
Alvin Plantinga
14 Methodological Naturalism under Attack 363
Michael Ruse
15 Plantinga’s Caseagainst Naturalistic Epistemology 387
Evan Fales
16 Plantinga’s Probability Arguments againstEvolutionary
Naturalism 411
Branden Fitelson and ElliottSober
VI Intelligent Design Creationism vs. Theistic Evolutionism 429
17 Creatoror Blind Watchmaker? 435
PhillipE. Johnson
18 PhillipJohnson on Trial: ACritique of His Critique of
Darwin 451
Nancey Murphy
19 Welcoming the‘‘Disguised Friend’’—Darwinismand
Divinity 471
ArthurPeacocke
Contents vii
20 The Creation: Intelligently Designed or Optimally
Equipped? 487
Howard J.Van Till
21 IsTheism Compatible with Evolution? 513
RoyClouser
VII IntelligentDesign and Information 537
22 IsGeneticInformation Irreducible? 543
Phillip E.Johnson
23 Reply to Phillip Johnson 549
Richard Dawkins
24 Reply to Johnson 551
George C. Williams
25 IntelligentDesign asa Theory ofInformation 553
William A. Dembski
26 Information and the Argument from Design 575
Peter Godfrey-Smith
27 How Not to Detect Design—CriticalNotice:William A. Dembski,
The DesignInference 597
Branden Fitelson,Christopher Stephens, and Elliott Sober
28 The ‘‘Information Challenge’’ 617
Richard Dawkins
VIII IntelligentDesign TheoristsTurn the Tables 633
29 Who’s Got the Magic? 639
William A. Dembski
30 The Wizards ofID: Reply toDembski 645
Robert T. Pennock
31 The Panda’s Thumb 669
Stephen Jay Gould
32 The Roleof Theology inCurrent Evolutionary Reasoning 677
PaulA. Nelson
33 Appealing to Ignorance behind the Cloak of Ambiguity 705
Kelly C. Smith
viii Contents
34 NonoverlappingMagisteria 737
Stephen Jay Gould
IX Creationism and Education 751
35 Why Creationism Should Not Be Taught in the Public
Schools 755
RobertT. Pennock
36 Creationand Evolution: AModestProposal 779
Alvin Plantinga
37 Replyto Plantinga’s ‘‘Modest Proposal’’ 793
RobertT. Pennock
Index 799
Preface
Most of the classic conflicts between science and religion have been
resolved, but the old controversy over evolution and creationism con-
tinues to erupt anew, as witnessed most recently in Kansas when cre-
ationists on the State Board of Education voted to remove evolution
from the state’s science curriculum standards. While most mainline
Christian theologians and denominations have reconciled their faith and
Darwinian evolution, a large number of fundamentalist and evangelical
Christians continue to believe that there are irreconcilable differences,
primarily because they hold to a literal or inerrant interpretation of the
Bible.TheAmericancourtshaveconsistentlyruledagainstvariousforms
of so-called scientific creationism, but creationists regularly mutate into
newforms and trynew tactics to gettheir views intothe schools.
The last decade of the millennium saw the arrival of a new player in
the creation/evolution debate—what has become known as the ‘‘intelli-
gent design (ID) movement’’ or ‘‘the wedge.’’ This new movement aims
to overthrow not only Darwinian evolution, but also the supposedly
dogmatic materialist/naturalist philosophy of the modern age that it
believes has dethrowned Christian theism from its proper role of moral
and intellectualauthority.
The most important early publications that heralded the wedge move-
ment included Berkeley law professor Phillip Johnson’s book Darwin
on Trial (Regnery, 1991) and Lehigh biochemist Michael Behe’s book
Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution (The Free
Press, 1995). Another significant publication is the biology textbook by
Percival Davis and Dean H. Kenyon titled Of Pandas and People: The
Central Question of Biological Origins (Foundation for Thought and
Ethics, 1993), which creationists have proposed for use in secondary